Fourteenth Annual 24 Hours of Great Glen Ready to Squish, Squash and Roll

On August 8 & 9, Great Glen Trails will host the fourteenth annual 24 Hours of Great Glen, a twenty-four-hour mountain bike race, at the base of Mt. Washington. For 2009, Great Glen Trails has added $1,000 to the prize purse. Registration is still open, and volunteers are also needed.

The 24 Hours of Great Glen begins at noon on August 8 and runs until noon on August 9. Competitors race around the clock and may compete solo or in teams of 2, 4 or 5 for a total purse of more than $10,000 in cash and prizes. The goal is to ride as many laps of the 8.25-mile course as possible. Registration closes on Tuesday, August 4 at noon, and spaces are still available.

In 2009, Great Glen Trails has increased the prize purse by more than $1,000. The biggest increases are in the male and female solo categories. The winner of each of the 24-hour solo categories will pocket $500 this year.

For those not ready to tackle the full 24, a 12-hour division will also be offered this year. Designed to introduce more riders to endurance racing, in this division, competitors will race the same exact course and have the same starting time as the 24-hour competitors, but their race ends at midnight. The 12-hour version will offer solo, 2-person and 4-person divisions.

Also for the first time ever, the 24 Hours of Great Glen will be timed by RealTime™ Scoring. RealTime™ Scoring is the timing system of the premier 24-hour mountain bike event production company, Granny Gear Productions. The addition of RealTime™ Scoring will improve the flow of the event for all racers and provide accurate in-race stats and lap times.

Not just a mountain bike race, the 24 Hours of Great Glen features Festival 24, which is packed with contests and games for the whole family, including the 24 Minutes of Great Glen—a mountain bike race for the kids.

The race course is currently marked and open daily for racers to preview before race day. Due to the soggy weather this summer, many sections of the course are muddy—some too muddy to ride. Great Glen Trails will make the final determination of the exact course on race day, but some short singletrack sections may be eliminated. Course adjustments are not unprecedented, as last year, the heavy rains the day before the event forced the elimination of a quarter-mile section of the course. After riding for 24 hours, not a single rider complained about the shortened course.

One of the keys to the continued success of the 24 Hours of Great Glen is volunteers, and Great Glen Trails is in need of help again this year. Volunteers are needed for shifts around the clock to assist as course marshals, timers and other positions. All volunteers will receive lunch, t-shirt, a trail pass for Great Glen Trails and a pass for the Mt. Washington Auto Road. To volunteer for the 24 Hours of Great Glen, contact Kelly Evans, kelly@mt-washington.com, or 603.466.2333.

To register, to learn more information about the course or Festival 24 or to view the race forum, visit www.24HoursofGreatGlen.com.

Trail Running Follies

Not that the ins and outs of my daily life are of particular interest to anyone, but I thought I'd used this space to talk about what I've spent most of the spring and this soggy summer doing, namely, trail running.

Being a lapsed runner, it's been great to get back into "serious" running over the last year and half or so. And, my quasi-resurgence has a lot to do with trail running. I've realized I really like to run, but I moderately dislike running on the road. But, I love running trails. Best of all, Great Glen Trails is one of best places around to trail run. Perhaps I'm a bit biased, but I really believe this. Every time I have the opportunity to personally introduce someone to the trail system, I jump at it. The mix of single track and carriage roads of flats and hills makes it a great place to train for any trail race around. But, I digress. Trail running is fun. Go do it.

Of course, I've been running in our Spring Trail Running Series. I haven't been racing the series, but weaving it into the training for other races. It's a great way to remind yourself to do some speed work. I don't have a stringently defined training program, so it helps even more. The first couple weeks of the series were right smack in my final preparations for the Pineland Farms Trail Challenge. I was attempting my first 50k. 50k translates to 31 miles, and I can say with certainty that it's a really long way. The race went very well. It was hard, and I suffered. But, I was very pleased with my result. Best of all, I was less sore following the race than I was after a 10-mile road race I ran earlier in the year. Ah, trails...so nice. Incidentally, Susan, whom many of you know, ran the 25k and also had a great race. I think training at Great Glen Trails has a lot to do with that...just throwing that out there. I also ran the Mt. Washington Road Race for the second time. And, while it's not a trail, it is contested on one rather large hill. This race didn't go quite as well for me, but anytime you run up Mt. Washington, you should be satisfied. On the other hand, our very own Sue had a great race despite a wonky toe and bear anxiety. She also trains mostly on trails. I don't think this is a coincidence.

More trail races planned for the summer for me, so that means lots more training on trails. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to race in the There's a Black Fly in My Eye, but I'll certainly be out training on the course this summer. Perhaps I'll even give it a real go one day just to see how fast I can go. In the meantime, the final week of the Spring Trail Running Series is coming up on Thursday. Hope to see you then. Or perhaps I'll see you out on the trails.

- Ryan

Nate Says: Go Paddling!

Great Glen Trails will be open 9:30 – 4:30 starting Saturday June 13 for all activities. The activity that I prefer is Paddling! Canoe or Kayak I’d love to have you on a trip this weekend or next. We can paddle flat water or white water. Don’t have any experience? Most people don’t that take our courses. We have all the equipment and staff to get you started in this sport the safe and fun way. You have paddled for years but need a buddy or guide to go out with you? That’s fine too. I do a lot of that.
You can go to our kayaking web page to learn about all the different programs we offer, but I’m here to tell you they are all great. Sue and I will be available for trips from here on out and Anders will be returning shortly too. Crosby is the “new guy” on staff and is excited to learn all our ins and outs about our trips and pass them on to you. Everyone on staff here at Great Glen has so much to offer, you should really come check us out. Maybe you have paddled here once years ago and now your kids are out of the house or grown up enough to paddle their own boat. Come try a different trip this time.
I think you get my point though. We are READY for summer. The wildlife is out there. Come paddle with us and improve your quality of living. Hope to see you soon.

-Nate Harvey
Paddling Director

My Turn for a Moose

I hope our blog followers have had a chance to read Howie’s blog about Uninvited Guests at the Trail Running Series. This Thursday was my turn to run into a moose on the course.

I started my run after 6:30 pm, having worked the Great Glen retail counter until 6. I thought I might see a moose on Dugway, since I heard a loud crack in the woods as I started up the hill. But . . . no. I continued on, feeling like I was the only one out on the trail system at that time of the evening.

I made the turn into the short singletrack off upper Libby Trace, the one we call Sven’s Chase. Right there in the middle of the singletrack, before it turns the corner, was a moose. I clapped my hands and called out “go, go, shoo, shoo”. The moose, which had been facing forward away from me, turned sideways to look at who was making all the fuss. I shook my hands in the air and called out “go, GO” again. I was stopped dead in my tracks.

A part of me really just wanted to stop and watch this big, wild creature. I always think it is a gift to get to see such animals in the wild. On the other hand, I was doing my trail race, and was very aware that the seconds were continuing to tick by.

I tried again to get it to move along. The moose had no interest in this. It actually took a step towards me, which made me a little more concerned. As docile as these creatures look, I know they can charge, and angering this moose was not in my best interest. I took what seemed the only reasonable option—retreat back to Libby Trace. I was willing to accept an asterisk after my name for running an altered path, rather than try to get by the moose.

I finished the course without further moose meetings. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the experience and I never regained my usual race focus. But it was quite a treat seeing the moose, and the trails belong to the animals at least as much as they do to me. I wonder who will experience the next moose sighting on their Thursday afternoon run?

~ Sue

Ready to Open This Weekend

Great Glen Trails will open for the summer season on Saturday, May 23 at 10:00am for paddling, biking, trail running, Nordic walking and bird watching. Great Glen Trails will be open weekends only through June 6.

The trail system will be open and the bike shop will have rentals available for adults and children, including trailers and trail-a-bikes, so the entire family can enjoy a day on the trails.

For those looking to get out on the water, paddling trips will also be available for the first time this season. Great Glen Trails’ guided paddling trips tour the Androscoggin River and offer fine wildlife viewing opportunities that often include moose, osprey and bald eagles. Both full day and half day trips will be available, please call ahead for reservations.

Great Glen Outfitters will also be open offering everything a family needs to enjoy a full day on the trails from energy bars and sunscreen to cycling apparel and backpacks.

Already underway is the Salomon Spring Trail Running Series presented by Smartwool. This weekly series is held on Thursdays with courses for runners and walkers of all ages and abilities.

Early season operating hours are in effect and Great Glen Trails will be open weekends only through June 6. Daily operations begin that day.

Click here for our operating schedule.

See you this weekend.

- Ryan

Univited guests enter Spring Trail Running Series

I love the start of the spring trail running series at Great Glen. It provides a target to motivate me to get out and start running during the time when we're coming off the ski season and the weather isn't always all that inviting for trail running. Typically we start training by running the local roads while the trails dry out. But the opening afternoon of the Series usually means that many of the single tracks in the woods as well as all of the gravel trails at GGT are now ready.

So today was the opening day. And boy do I really love it when it's raining and windy and cold like it was this afternoon. No, really - I'd sooo much rather run in chilly temps than the heat. So this was the optimum conditions for me in my currently poor running condition. Eli has set up a particularly devious course for this spring. The first two miles are basically uphill, ok maybe not that bad but you do end up on top of Dugway at the two mile marker then have 1.5 miles left. It's a challenge for me to leave a little something so I'm not totally wiped out by the time I get to the "summit". Sue and I had reconned the course a couple of days ago and that helped.

But where I really lost time, and the reason I know I can do better next week, was on the last piece of single track coming back down onto Dragon Corridor. I'm paying a lot of attention to each footfall with all the roots you encounter here so when I looked up and saw the entire rear end of momma moose coming up fast I had to set the brakes hard! Neither she nor her little one in front had seen, heard or smelled me coming....yikes! "Hey Moosies!" I yell, yes, in northern NH the plural of moose is moosies. That got her to look around but not move. Damn. So I advanced on her and the little one takes off down to Dragon and the gravel surface, slowly followed by Mom. I cut down to the gravel while Mom continues down the single track that now parallels the gravel. Bad move. She senses that I'm about to pass her and move up on her little one, which I was of course - this is a race after all and they're holding me up. So she bolts along snorting with her ears back to cut me off then finally they both veer off into the woods. "See ya girls", and away I go.

Very cool beginning to the trail running season.

Howie

Wood Ducks at Great Glen!

Please understand that these are my very favorite ducks. They (I’m speaking of the males really, who, like most birds, are the more colorful of the two sexes) are beautiful, with fine, distinctive white lines apportioning their heads into different sections. Their eyes are bright red, sides and tops of head shades of green and purple, a multicolored beak with red-orange, white and black. Dark blue is the color of one set of feathers that lay along their sides. (Yes, I’ve yet to learn the technical names for bird anatomy. . . .) Other colors on them include gray, rich brown and a buff white. They really are striking.



I’ve only seen one wood duck before. It was several years ago during a paddling trip with customers on the Magallaway River above Errol, NH. Our trip took us down a flatwater section of the river to Lake Umbagog, a common destination for Great Glen’s full day public paddling trips. (Most of our trips go in and out the Androscoggin River to Umbagog, but sometimes we can accommodate special requests for an alternative route.)
On that trip a few of us saw the pretty wood duck swimming close to the shoreline.

Despite reading their name on lists of birds I might see in a number of areas I’ve visited, and making numerous trips to the Umbagog Wildlife Refuge every summer, I haven’t seen another wood duck since. Until today! And at Great Glen, which in many ways, I think of as home.

I was finishing up a run on our trails. I was on the lower end of Dragon Corridor, where it passes by the Peabody River and a wetland area created by our busy beaver population. Some birds in the water caught my eye. I stopped. Wood ducks--a pair. The male made a little high-pitched call, and they took to the air. But I had gotten a clear enough view to be sure of their identification, and to enjoy their beauty.

Wonder what I’ll come across on the trails next time?

--Sue W